The ramifications of 2023 state legislation promoting renewable energy in Illinois may soon be realized in rural Waterloo.

Next month, the Monroe County Planning Commission and Zoning Board of Appeals will consider a special use permit request submitted by Monroe Sun LLC and Monroe Sun 2 LLC, both of which are registered to Chicago-based Alexander Farkes.

Farkes is seeking to develop a solar farm on a 117-acre parcel just outside the southwestern city limits of Waterloo near Maeystown Road.

Farkes had a similar special use permit request approved in Schuyler County last July for installation of 7,608 solar modules on a 70-acre parcel leased by Farkes’s LLC.

The amount of land “disturbed” by installing the arrays in Schuyler County was just under 15 acres, with a projected output of three megawatts of electricity per year – enough to easily power more than 1,000 typical residential properties annually. 

The solar farm proposal in Monroe County was to be discussed during a June meeting of the Monroe County Planning Commission, but that meeting was canceled at the request of Farkes.

The item is back on the agenda of the planning commission and board of appeals for the Aug. 7 and Aug. 25 meetings, respectively, and the topic has been the subject of several social media conversations in the past several months – mostly against bringing a large-scale solar energy project to Monroe County.

Opponents of the proposal may be without recourse due to Illinois Public Act 102-1123, passed in 2023, which requires local governments to adopt solar and wind energy ordinances that adhere to new state standards outlined in the bill.

The state legislation was brought about as a result of the Illinois Climate and Equitable Jobs Act. Passed in 2021, the act seeks to eliminate or “phase out” carbon emissions in the state’s energy and transportation industries by 2050. 

In addition to superseding local renewable energy regulations, the 2023 law effectively strips counties and other municipalities of the power to deny commercial solar and wind energy projects that conform to regulations imposed by the state. 

Public Act 102-1123 states that a county may not implement zoning regulations which would prevent “commercial solar energy facilities from being developed or operated in any district zoned to allow agricultural or industrial uses.”

While local governments no longer have any input on if solar and wind projects are allowed, public hearings on proposed installations are mandated in the law.

Counties are also responsible for ensuring proper construction standards are met and overseeing appropriate agricultural impact mitigation and plans for decommissioning equipment once a facility is no longer producing power.

Local governments are also required to make developers deter any adverse effects on roadways and drainage infrastructure that may arise as part of a large solar project.

Commercial projects on a county parcel located within 1.5 miles of an incorporated municipality may be subject to additional oversight, but a municipality may not impose restrictions that go beyond state-level regulations.     

A county board has 75 days to act on a renewable energy proposal. If it does not act, the proposal is automatically approved.

Monroe County was involved in a situation in which a cell phone tower – which had been denied by county commissioners – was allowed to be constructed in rural Columbia last year after a judge ruled the county had not acted in a timely manner.

The details of the proposed solar farm will be discussed during the next planning commission meeting beginning at 7:30 p.m. Aug. 7 in the Monroe County Courthouse.